Speculation: All Bruins trade proposals/rumors XIV: Getting down to crunch time

[JAD]

Since Julien is the coach, only one team was able to beat the Bruins in less than 7 and it took a collosal collapse in game 6 against the Hawks...

The Bruins are a very tough team to beat in the playoffs. It will not change come April as they will want to redeem themselves after the very disapointing loss to the lowly Habs last year...

The Bruins play the same style all year and just being in the playoffs makes them a very dangerous team regardless of their seed or opponent. The best thing (and also the most frustrating thing) is the Bruins play to the level of their opponent. The better the team the better they play. Expect a lot of 1 goal games and long series. They just need to stay healthy and they have as good a chance as any team.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Chara and seidenberg have both suffered biggish lower body injuries, + they're starting to get old, which you can see clearly when we play against faster teams. We lost boychuk without adding anyone, hamilton is just 21 and has made ton of mistakes lately, krug is dangerous in the own zone, McQuaid has suffered too many injuries which are slowing him down, bart/miller aren't just good enough. So the problem is that they (julien) want to be D first but the talent isn't there.

So again I'll say this we need a #4D and we can be last years Kings eastern cousin.

The defensemen aren't the only players responsible for defensive play.

 

[DominicT]

Re East is weaker than the west

Forget the argument that includes every team in the conference because the east has far more bottom feeders.

Look at the playoff teams from each conference.

Not 1 playoff team from the east has a losing record against the west.
Two of the West's playoff teams have a losing record against the east - make LA 3 if you think they'll make it.

Only 1 East team has a losing record against the Central and only 1 east team has a losing record vs the Pacific.

Two west playoff teams have a losing record vs Atlantic and none against the metro.

The better argument in evaluating the east vs west is with playoff teams. Those non playoff teams wont be playing in April

 

[BergyWho37]

Oliver Ekman-Larsson could be had ...oh man PC please kick tires here

I'd pay a good price for him

salary part makes it extremely hard tho

 

[Braunbaer]

Only 1 East team has a losing record against the Central and only 1 east team has a losing record vs the Pacific.

If we are talking the current Eastern playoff teams ...
I count 3 teams with losing record against Central (Bruins 5-4-2, Islanders 4-5-0, Rangers 2-1-3)
Against Pacific there are 2 teams (Montreal 3-3-1 and Washington 2-4-3)

But while I was writing this I have realized you might have excluded the games against Western non-playoff teams ... so my bad.
But then again the stats should get better that way instead of getting worse.

 

[EverettMike]

Forget the argument that includes every team in the conference because the east has far more bottom feeders.

Look at the playoff teams from each conference.

Not 1 playoff team from the east has a losing record against the west.
Two of the West's playoff teams have a losing record against the east - make LA 3 if you think they'll make it.

Only 1 East team has a losing record against the Central and only 1 east team has a losing record vs the Pacific.

Two west playoff teams have a losing record vs Atlantic and none against the metro.

The better argument in evaluating the east vs west is with playoff teams. Those non playoff teams wont be playing in April

Dom, do you think you could do a quick power ranking of the top 10 teams in the NHL right now? Just curious if you look at it that way if you'd still feel this way.

I'm not sure the East has one of the four best teams in hockey.

 

[BB88]

The defensemen aren't the only players responsible for defensive play.

Yeah I know that, but I'd say we have a good amount of forwards who have a good/great two way play. Every line has atleast 1 good two way player. We have guys like bergy, kelly, eriksson, campbell(whom has been lately better defensively), krecji, marchand.

I don't know how to say this in english properly but I referred that every player has a spot and a job in the own D-zone and I see that our defense doesn't fill their spots/jobs as well as our forwars fill their jobs/spots in the d-zone. I see more flaws with our D.
Sorry if this makes zero sense, english is my 3rd language

 

[DominicT]

If we are talking the current Eastern playoff teams ...
I count 3 teams with losing record against Central (Bruins 5-4-2, Islanders 4-5-0, Rangers 2-1-3)
Against Pacific there are 2 teams (Montreal 3-3-1 and Washington 2-4-3)

But while I was writing this I have realized you might have excluded the games against Western non-playoff teams ... so my bad.
But then again the stats should get better that way instead of getting worse.

Even using your standards, those bolded are not losing records right now. Earning 50.1% + of available points is a winning record.

Dom, do you think you could do a quick power ranking of the top 10 teams in the NHL right now? Just curious if you look at it that way if you'd still feel this way.

I'm not sure the East has one of the four best teams in hockey.

I could Mike but it would take some serious work breaking down team vs team records and not the generally used power rankings that takes into account current winning streaks and place in the standings used in power rankings.

I just don't believe looking at all 16 teams from the east vs the 14 vs the west is the way to go especially in an unbalanced schedule, especially for games within one's own conference. For example, does Pittsburgh get less games vs Buffalo/Ottawa this year than the Islanders? In other words, it would take some serious research.

With only one team coming out of each conference in the end, I don't think looking at overall conference strength vs conference strength is the way to look at it, while I will admit, that is the way it is usually dissected.

If you look at playoff teams vs playoff teams (and the picture is a little more clearer in the east than the west) the east wins against the west more often than not.

In the end, its those 16 teams that matter. I'm not sure why the Buffalo's, Edmonton's, Carolina's, Arizona's or New Jersey's are taken into consideration when we talk east vs west at playoff time. I mean Edmonton ( a non playoff team ) at .583 pts% has a better record vs the east than San Jose ( an actual playoff team ) at .474 pts%. We certainly aren't going to be talking about the east's record vs Edmonton in April, May and June because they won't be there.

And I'll add, the east doesn't have to be one of the four best teams in hockey, they just have to be the best in the east. Then anything can happen. Even if the 4 best are from the west, only one gets out. The east just has to better than that 1.

 

[EverettMike]

Even using your standards, those bolded are not losing records right now. Earning 50.1% + of available points is a winning record.



I could Mike but it would take some serious work breaking down team vs team records and not the generally used power rankings that takes into account current winning streaks and place in the standings used in power rankings.

I just don't believe looking at all 16 teams from the east vs the 14 vs the west is the way to go especially in an unbalanced schedule, especially for games within one's own conference. For example, does Pittsburgh get less games vs Buffalo/Ottawa this year than the Islanders? In other words, it would take some serious research.

With only one team coming out of each conference in the end, I don't think looking at overall conference strength vs conference strength is the way to look at it, while I will admit, that is the way it is usually dissected.

If you look at playoff teams vs playoff teams (and the picture is a little more clearer in the east than the west) the east wins against the west more often than not.

In the end, its those 16 teams that matter. I'm not sure why the Buffalo's, Edmonton's, Carolina's, Arizona's or New Jersey's are taken into consideration when we talk east vs west at playoff time. I mean Edmonton ( a non playoff team ) at .583 pts% has a better record vs the east than San Jose ( an actual playoff team ) at .474 pts%. We certainly aren't going to be talking about the east's record vs Edmonton in April, May and June because they won't be there.

And I'll add, the east doesn't have to be one of the four best teams in hockey, they just have to be the best in the east. Then anything can happen. Even if the 4 best are from the west, only one gets out. The east just has to better than that 1.

Yes, but that didn't really come across as the point I thought you were making. I do think the east is weaker, because I think the four best teams in hockey are in the West.

Who do you think is the best team in the East? How many playoff teams from the West would you make them a favorite over in a 7 game series?

I don't think it is impossible that the Cup winner comes from the East, because lots of things can happen in a 7 game series (after 3 rounds where guys get beat up and a goalie can go nuts), but just speaking right now what is the first match-up where you'd say "this is the best team in the east and I would have them as a favorite over this team in the west?"

 

[DominicT]

Yes, but that didn't really come across as the point I thought you were making. I do think the east is weaker, because I think the four best teams in hockey are in the West.

Who do you think is the best team in the East? How many playoff teams from the West would you make them a favorite over in a 7 game series?

I don't think it is impossible that the Cup winner comes from the East, because lots of things can happen in a 7 game series (after 3 rounds where guys get beat up and a goalie can go nuts), but just speaking right now what is the first match-up where you'd say "this is the best team in the east and I would have them as a favorite over this team in the west?"

Right now I like the Ducks in the West.

They have yet to beat the Pens, NYI, NYR (I think they'll be in the PO) this season (have yet to play TB).

Like I said, would take a lot more dissecting. I just refuse to go by the west overall is stronger than the east. It doesn't matter. When people talk East vs West, they take into account games against the Sabres, Canes and Devils overall. I don't think that has anything to do with Ducks vs Pens, Islanders and Rangers.

Just my two cents worth

 

[Alan Ryan]

Actually Isles did a good job and had Tavares vs Krejci line for a lot of the night. Despite the dash 2 Bergy's line was good. Conversely I thought Krejci and Looch looked like hot garbage but managed to put up 3 goals and a +3

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>5v5 possession, Bruins at Islanders even. <a href="http://t.co/Sa3HudAIE1">pic.twitter.com/Sa3HudAIE1</a></p>&mdash; Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) <a href="https://twitter.com/IneffectiveMath/status/561147983862169602">January 30, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Edit: Clearly I have no idea how to embed a tweet lol

A simple copy and paste works for me.

 

[Alan Ryan]

I'll kick this back to you...how confident do you feel headed into a series with Montreal where they have home advantage? And let's say we've added the almighty Chris Stewart as our acquisition and they've added a player of similar "value".

How does that series play out in your mind?

Right now, with the Bruins supposedly lacking reliable goal scoring, the Bruins have 131 goals and Montreal has 127. http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?type=DIV#&navid=nav-stn-div

Bruins win in 6 games, with the line-up they have now. The big question for me is Rask vs Price. Rask has to be better against Montreal than anytime in his career.

 

[Colt.45Orr]

2 goals for Stewart tonight --he's been playing well for some time now.

 

[Ice Nine]

2 goals for Stewart tonight --he's been playing well for some time now.

One of the risks of evaluating and waiting.

Assets shift in value. Stewart is strengthening Buffalo's hand.

The asking price could come down closer to the deadline, but I'm guessing it might go the other way, given his performance over the last 20 games.

 

[Coach Parker]

One of the risks of evaluating and waiting.

Assets shift in value. Stewart is strengthening Buffalo's hand.

The asking price could come down closer to the deadline, but I'm guessing it might go the other way, given his performance over the last 20 games.

On the flip side that terrible cap hit lessens each day. For third line duties Stewart is too much money right now.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

On the flip side that terrible cap hit lessens each day. For third line duties Stewart is too much money right now.

Since the Bruins weren't utilizing real cap "space" anyway, but rather Savard's LTIR... Does it even matter?

 

[Ice Nine]

On the flip side that terrible cap hit lessens each day. For third line duties Stewart is too much money right now.

Maybe, though I still think he's among the better of the bad options out there. Though now that his asking price is solidifying with his better play, so the room to negotiate Sabres lower is going to be harder. I'm not sure you'd acquire him for third line duties. I'd try him on first or second line, move Pasta to the third line. He shouldn't have to face top line competition on a nightly basis.

There are other options out there I'd much more prefer the Bruins take a shot at-- like Yak, which you've been pushing-- but I think realistically the Yakupov would never even cross Chiarelli's mind as an asset to acquire. He's the kind of asset the Bruins would be much more likely to ship out for depth pieces, than acquire.

 

[Mpasta]

The Bruins play the same style all year and just being in the playoffs makes them a very dangerous team regardless of their seed or opponent. The best thing (and also the most frustrating thing) is the Bruins play to the level of their opponent. The better the team the better they play. Expect a lot of 1 goal games and long series. They just need to stay healthy and they have as good a chance as any team.

This just isn't true. What have the Bruins done this season that you think that they can compete with the best in a 7 game series?

Right now, with the Bruins supposedly lacking reliable goal scoring, the Bruins have 131 goals and Montreal has 127. http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?type=DIV#&navid=nav-stn-div

Bruins win in 6 games, with the line-up they have now. The big question for me is Rask vs Price. Rask has to be better against Montreal than anytime in his career.

I don't even know where to start. It's so obvious as a fan without blinders on that this team needs more scoring. I shouldn't even have to argue this but I feel like people will just look at the numbers without watching the games.

If you're going by only numbers, how do you have the Bruins winning in 6? There aren't enough stats in the world to convince me that the Bruins can beat Montreal in 6 games right now.

But the biggest issue I have is how you blame the Bruins lack of winning against Montreal on Rask. Of course the numbers look that way but are you actually watching the games or just going by obvious stats? The Bruins look straight up bad against Montreal's style of play but it's so easy to put the blame on the goalie even when the whole team sucks in front of him.

We clearly need a top 6 winger and/or a top 4 defenseman to make any noise in the playoffs.

 

[ODAAT]

sooooo, we have issues with Kelly`s contract but are willing to take on the contract of a guy who`s attitude and commitment are in question for more of a cap hit at a cost that I will wager will have fans getting all interwebz crazy on Chia??

Not opposed to doing anything that would potentially make this team stronger, I`m not sold one bit Stewart is that guy and his most recent performance doesn`t camouflage the fact that this guy`s attitude is horrific playing for a coach right now who`s well known as being a players coach

 

[BNHL]

2 goals for Stewart tonight --he's been playing well for some time now.

Maybe 5 games,not enough to change anyone's opinion but maybe enough to get people to see if any consistency develops.

 

[BB88]

I don't even know where to start. It's so obvious as a fan without blinders on that this team needs more scoring. I shouldn't even have to argue this but I feel like people will just look at the numbers without watching the games.

If you're going by only numbers, how do you have the Bruins winning in 6? There aren't enough stats in the world to convince me that the Bruins can beat Montreal in 6 games right now.

But the biggest issue I have is how you blame the Bruins lack of winning against Montreal on Rask. Of course the numbers look that way but are you actually watching the games or just going by obvious stats? The Bruins look straight up bad against Montreal's style of play but it's so easy to put the blame on the goalie even when the whole team sucks in front of him.

We clearly need a top 6 winger and/or a top 4 defenseman to make any noise in the playoffs.

Well said. I don't remember how many times habs player was all alone in front of rask or how many breakaways we gave them in playoffs last year. Blaming the goalie is the easiest thing to do when you don't watch the games. Then you have to talk about the glorious scoring we had going, first line was shutdown, and we had like 1 goal in the two last games? how on earth do you win like that. But hey let's all blame rask for scoring zero goals.

This years few games against the habs have been terrible, we've been rubbish. There's no skating, no fighting for pucks, no fight to win those 1on1 battless. We've been one step behind all the time.
But those few games this year happened to be at the time where we were absolutely rubbish again, it will be nice to see how this team like it is now can fight against the habs.
We really do need those few tweaks if we wanna go through them in playoffs.

 

[Vdub]

sooooo, we have issues with Kelly`s contract but are willing to take on the contract of a guy who`s attitude and commitment are in question for more of a cap hit at a cost that I will wager will have fans getting all interwebz crazy on Chia??

Not opposed to doing anything that would potentially make this team stronger, I`m not sold one bit Stewart is that guy and his most recent performance doesn`t camouflage the fact that this guy`s attitude is horrific playing for a coach right now who`s well known as being a players coach

Agree. If Stewart ends up in Boston, I cringe at the thought of his me first attitude the first bump in the road with Claude.

No thanks

 

[ODAAT]

Agree. If Stewart ends up in Boston, I cringe at the thought of his me first attitude the first bump in the road with Claude.

No thanks

and at what cost too? I`m sorry, I have little issues giving up value for value, I just question how someone like him would even fit into the locker room of this team let alone buy into the system Julien demands?

To keep another thing in perspective, Chris Kelly (using him as he`s the guy most point to for being a contract issue), as we sit here today, has more pts than this guy

 

[marty]

Any interest in a deal like Peverley's in '11? No doubt helped the bruins win a cup but looked lopsided then and now, to be honest, in favour of the Thrashers/Jets. Upgrading Smith to a good vet second/third line right wing for a win now approach. Would hurt to lose a young guy with potential/upside and while Wheeler and Stuart are both still doing well in Winnipeg, another cup or deep cup run would be worth it no?

Current roster version of that deal would be what: R. Smith and stay-at-home D Miller/McQuaid for versatile RW Vet and depth prospect?

 

[BNHL]

2 goals for Stewart tonight --he's been playing well for some time now.

2 PP goals on 5:31 PPTOI,never happen here.